Dancing Shoes
by Cybaster
Summary: (Chapter 3 uploaded 03/16/2001)The last dance of their Hogwarts years. Everyone's going to be there...and both Harry and Hermione have the same big problem. What else would they find trying to solve it?
1. Problem

_Dancing Shoes: Problem_

***

_Author's Note: This is part 1 of a 3-part story. Hey, I did promise to write something at least a bit more light-hearted after 'Invincible', so here it is. And even light-hearted, it's *still* kinda long. Darn. =/ Oh, well, it'll take awhile to tune myself to write short when I need to, I guess, so bear with me. Tell me if you liked it or not... Yeah. That's that. But do tell me if I did a good job on it or not...romance has never really been my department. Yeah, I'm repeating myself, but that's that. =/_

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_--Cybaster_

_"Believe in the Sign of Zeta!!!"_

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_Disclaimer: I own nothing of anything here but the two pairs of dancing shoes that will be used in half of the entire story. Otherwise, Harry Potter and everything affiliated with that name alone is created and belongs to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing and Raincoast Books._

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_Special Thanks: Extremely special thank-you to Sarah Jane and Shadow Dragon for beta reading this story. *Arigato gozaimasu*…I think…_

***

"Think, Hermione…think…" Hermione Granger pleaded with herself inside the silent hallways of the Hogwarts Library and, at the same time, cursed her own stupidity. Thanks to her, the last year of her Hogwarts school days would also be her most embarrassing, and it wouldn't be by any means because of her school work. She was more than thankful that there was nobody else in the library with her; although it was nothing special since the school year was drawing to a close, Hermione was still glad that the library was empty when it was. However, it still didn't help any.

And it would be her most embarrassing year yet, that is, if she couldn't figure something out to solve the problem soon, considering that she didn't have much of any time left at all. 

"There's got to be something you can think of to get yourself out of this mess!"

Hermione searched her mind over and over and came up with nothing. She became desperate. She had thought the problem over and over when reminded and when she had the time to now, had searched the books in her possession and almost everywhere in Hogwarts, and came up with nothing. She didn't even care that the library couldn't possibly be the place to solve her imminent problem.

_Blast it, Hermione, she cursed herself again, __you're becoming like Draco now. If she didn't let her girlish pride get the best of her at that moment of all the hours in her life, none of this would be happening now to Hermione._

***

_It all began with a simple question, from Parvati of all people._

_ _

_The final seventh year examinations were drawing to a close in two weeks' time and it was a time everyone was looking forward to. Not really the examinations themselves, but rather the Graduation Feast and, more importantly, the Last Moments Dance for the seventh years. Other than the actual graduation ceremony the next day after that and the End of the Year Feast, it would be the last time the seventh years would be with each other again._

_ _

_And it was a time to both remember and look forward to, since there would be nothing to be worried about by then. The examinations were over and graduation would soon draw near. A bright future awaited them. Voldemort himself was utterly destroyed by now, defeated by the one and only Harry Potter only a single month ago, and the Ministry's efforts in hunting down his remaining Death Eaters were wrapping up. For perhaps once before the events surrounding the Triwizard Cup three years back, the students of Hogwarts could finally relax again._

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_For Hermione Granger, though, the Last Moments Dance was nothing to be excited about back then. In fact, the day had never reached the back of her mind until Parvati Patil brought it up a week before the examinations._

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_"Hey, Hermi!" Parvati stopped her midway to the library that day, and Hermione stopped to listen half-annoyedly. She should never have answered --- that was her first mistake. "Who are you goin' to the Last Moments with?"_

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_"Oh, m-me?" Hermione answered, surprised. She still remembered how stupid she sounded. "What about you?"_

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_"Oh, I'm goin' with Dean, as usual!" Parvati replied, giggling with the characteristic smile that became her, obviously proud that she had a boyfriend herself and was going to the Last Moments with him. Ironically, Parvati was one of those numerous seventh years in Hogwarts to have a boyfriend and one who could go to the Last Moments with her, and__ maintain a fairly decent set of grades, of all things, and this only made Parvati even more perky and teasing. "After these examinations are over we're getting everything set for that day! Who are you going with, Hermi? Asked someone yet?"_

_ _

_Hermione felt as if some inner fear had broken loose --- given how busy she had been with her examinations, she forgot completely about the Last Moments! And now Parvati was probably here to both 'remind' her and tease her because of it. Somehow she managed to regain her calm, however, and give Parvati a half-cold stare._

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_"Never crossed my mind, what with all these exams and all coming." Hermione coldly replied. Then, she made her second mistake. "I'll think about it after the exams. Now, if you'll excuse me?" Hermione added in a hurry to rid herself of Parvati and quickly took her leave, leaving Parvati to stand there. Hermione had thought that she had put Parvati off; to think that was her second mistake._

_ _

_Persistent as she was, Parvati intercepted Hermione again almost immediately__ after her last examination, and when she did, Hermione was already expectant of what Parvati was going to ask her. That was her third mistake. "Finally! The exams are over!" Parvati squeaked. "And I'm all set for the Last Moments Dance! It's going to be great! Well, Hermi, are you ready yet?"_

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_Hermione restrained the urge to groan. "I'm getting to it, Parvati. The examinations have only ended minutes ago!"_

_"Don't tell me you're not planning to prepare for it!" Parvati 'feigned' surprise. "This is the last dance of our school years! You've got to go! Do you at least have a date yet?"_

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_"Date?"_

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_"To go to the dance with, silly!"_

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_Hermione was about to respond to Parvati when an obnoxious voice chimed out from behind Hermione. It was to lead to all these problems. "Date? For her?" chimed out the near-infinitely taunting, mirthless tone of Draco Malfoy himself. Even nearing the end of the school years, Draco, very much proud of himself, was determined not to let any chance to embarrass the others pass by --- and he's certainly not going to let this one by. "Mudblood can't get a date even if the Ministry told her to!"_

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_"Shut up, Draco!" Parvati cried back before Hermione had a chance to turn around. "This isn't any of your business!"_

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_Draco merely laughed. "Mudblood isn't saying anything because she knows I'm right. Of course, how could she get a date? She cannot even dance good, for crying out loud! Boys would be afraid of her in no time flat!"_

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_"And I suppose you could do better?" Parvati countered, nudging Hermione for her to say something back._

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_"Better than her, at least, Pathetic Petal!"_

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_"Really. Right. If you really could dance, you wouldn't be a Slytherin."_

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_"Mudblood has only been lucky so far. She isn't even a better wizard---" Draco winced unpleasantly as he said this. "---and when it comes to smaller things like this, I'm way better than her or you!"_

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_"Why you---"_

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_At this point, Hermione could stand no more of this bickering, and decided to speak out to end it. At that same time she decided to take the tact of telling off Draco to do it --- and that would be her third and fatal mistake. "I can dance well enough when I want to." Hermione countered coldly even though she clearly knew it was a horrid lie. "But I really don't have time to waste teaching you how to, Draco."_

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_Draco's next four words would spark the problem: "Then prove it, Mudblood."_

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_Before Hermione could respond accordingly, Parvati had already pushed her forward into her own dead end: "Well, she will! You'll see, dragon bait! Right, Hermi?"_

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_Draco laughed. "We will, won't we? At the Last Moments Dance. We'll see how well Mudblood really does, Pathetic Petal. Everyone will be watching."_

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_"Alright."_

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_Hermione nodded assent and felt her entire world fall in upon her._

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_***_

Obviously, Hermione had, not for the first time by any means, gotten herself in a lot of trouble. Firstly, she really didn't have a date and had never, ever thought of getting one even for the Last Moments --- the last year was practically hectic on her schedule, anyway, so she never did find the time to indulge in boyfriend/girlfriend relationships even if she wanted to. That wasn't too big of a problem, though; Hermione knew that she wouldn't be the only one stuck in that situation. Many of the seventh years still didn't have girlfriends or boyfriends; Hermione would only be one more.

And secondly, more important than that, Hermione really _didn't know how to dance even if defeating Voldemort again depended on it._

Don't get her wrong, though; Hermione had danced once before. Every single seventh year knew that and had been in her classes back during the year of the Triwizard Cup --- her 'dancing partner' then was none other than Durmstrang's Viktor Krum, considered by many to be the best Quidditch Seeker of his time. Dance, they did; nobody particularly cared if they danced well or not during the Yule Ball, anyway. But Hermione knew better --- dance well, they didn't. No; _she didn't. Krum was quick on his feet and nimble, as was expected of him, but Hermione…well, at least Krum was polite enough not to say anything to her about her stepping on his toes a few times. It was quite enough for her not to try it again._

If she had the choice…which, thanks to Draco and Parvati, she didn't. The entire seventh year would be watching by now, now that Parvati had probably already spread the news around the entire school. Since this was the last year, Draco would certainly make sure that 'Mudblood' never lived it down if she blew this chance --- he may not have had turned out to be the Death Eater his father was, but he still had his ways.

Now that everyone knew this, though, nobody would be expecting Hermione to be preparing for the Last Moments in the library, of all places. And it was just as well, because she needed to think, and fast.

She had five days left.

***

A few corridors, stairs and secret rooms away, the Gryffindor student known as Harry Potter was having the same problem.

But for him, to him…if he even knew Ron or Hermione or anyone else had the same problem he did…it was a good deal worse. Like everyone else, his final year exams were finished, and the only thing left to prepare for was the Last Moments Dance. Everyone else was doing that, anyway; it would be the last time the seventh years each other knew would get together and actually had fun, and nobody was going to miss that. Neither was Harry. Knowing the others, they'd expect him to at least show up, anyway. After all, what kind of person would the Boy who Lived be if he wouldn't even show up for the last dance of his Hogwarts years to have fun with his friends?

And although he won't openly show it like some others, Harry wanted to go. That meant finding an appropriate dress robe, grooming himself, finding a date. And learning how to dance. Fast. The first two were easy and could be accomplished easily. As for finding a date…well…Harry failed that one this time, too.

And subsequently the prospect of learning how to dance completely caught Harry by surprise.

***

_By the time his last examination in Defence Against the Dark Arts class has been finished, Harry felt as if every single weight in the world had been lifted from him. After all, why shouldn't they be? Voldemort was finally defeated a month ago despite an extremely difficult fight --- Harry was quite lucky Trelawney's predictions on his demise the night before didn't prove true due to an unexpected star 'shift' --- and his Death Eaters scattered, his examinations went well, and he had a bright future ahead of him once he got out of Hogwarts._

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_And then there was Graduation…and the Last Moments Dance the day before that._

_ _

_Unlike Hermione, Harry already had a clear idea of what he wanted to do to go to the dance. He had already ordered and bought his dress robe from elsewhere. All that was left was for the store to send it to him. He had already built up an idea of what he was going to do at the Last Moments. And he had an idea of who he was going to ask to go to the Last Moments with him. He had fantasized about every moment, every sensation, every single detail until he was almost completely sure it would happen since when, well, since after Voldemort had been defeated and when Harry actually had the time._

_ _

_He hoped he hadn't waited too long._

_ _

_But his examinations were over nevertheless and Harry, walking freely along the streets of Hogsmeade to relax himself, knew that pleasantly. As Harry walked along the streets of the town's Eatery Sections, he mulled over the details of the Last Moments and his own plans intently. In fact, he didn't stop doing that until he near-unconsciously ran into someone and fell down in a heap, more surprised than actually hurt.___

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_"Oh! I'm sorry, Harry!"_

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_Harry looked up from his reverie and was confronted by the raven-haired, dark eyed beauty that was Cho Chang.____She herself seemed quite enthusiastic about something even though the formal robe she wore and the briefcase in her left hand actually made Cho look a little more serious-minded__; she was whistling to herself before she bumped into Harry, and she seemed quite happy about something, as well, looking down at Harry with curious and half-compassionate, half-playful eyes and a wide, blinding smile. Harry tinged a small shade of red as he tried to get up, all thoughts forgotten but his attraction to Cho._

_ _

_Who could blame Harry? __He had felt attracted to Cho ever since they met on opposite Quidditch teams during his third year --- Cho was a year older than he was then ---____and had kept at this attraction ever since, even after four years of going nowhere with her but having a crush, __even after she herself graduated from Hogwarts and obtained an administration career somewhere in Hogsmeade__. Cho was a beauty, yes, and smart, although one might not see her that way at first glance, and she __was definitely charming in her own ways. And she was the person Harry wanted to go to the Last Moments with, before he lost that chance perhaps forever __--- even if he'd have to get special permission from Professor Dumbledore to do so.___

_Remembering that, Harry managed to slightly calm his nerves and gather up his voice. "Oh, uh, hello there, Cho." Harry blurted out nervously in reply. "How, uh, are you doing now? With your job, I mean."_

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_Cho didn't seem to mind Harry's nervousness, and chuckled slightly. "I'm doing well, Harry. I'm on my lunch break now. Busy day, but I'm getting by."_

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_"I see."_

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_Harry and Cho were silent for a moment, and he blushed a bit more as he began again. "Cho…uh, there's something I want to ask you."_

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_Cho nodded. "Go ahead, Harry."_

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_*Here goes,* Harry thought to himself as he gathered his remaining courage and asked his question. It didn't go the way he wanted to, though. "__Do…do you plan on going to the Last Moments Dance__?" Harry asked, and mentally slapped himself for messing that up._

_ _

_Cho seemed slightly hesitant about the question and her head sank a bit, avoiding Harry's eyes and blushing slightly. Harry caught the hesitation, but didn't say anything, and could only guess what that was about. Even after three years, long as it may be, the events of the Triwizard Cup had not left anybody, although its impact had dulled by now, even more after Voldemort was destroyed. Perhaps, Harry guessed, Cho still blamed Harry a bit for not being there for Cedric Diggory when Voldemort rose again back then. Admittedly, Cho and Cedric were__ at least a bit close before Wormtail killed him and, Harry could understand, perhaps at least a bit Cho was still hurting over losing him._

_ _

_And he couldn't blame her if that's the case. But it wasn't, not really. "You want to ask me to go to the Last Moments with you, right, Harry?" Cho asked softly._

_Harry felt his body heat up and was now almost a complete shade of red as he felt his hopes go up, although he desperately tried to maintain his calm. Then Cho looked back up at him with a smile that seemed more sympathetic than flattered, and Harry felt his hopes slowly fade away. He sighed to himself._

_ _

_Harry felt his senses go numb and cursed himself for waiting too long. "O…Oh." Harry could only blurt out. "I see." He wanted to know why Cho couldn't or wouldn't go and ruin his last chance to be with her, but he knew that it'd be no use. And besides, if there was one single lesson that Divination got through to him, it was that what really must be, will be. Perhaps Cho just wasn't meant for him._

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_Cho gave Harry a wry, but assuring grin in reply. "Don't feel bad…it isn't about you. I'm sure someone else would like to go with you to the Last Moments. After all, who doesn't like you now, other than the Slytherins? You'll find someone, don't worry."_

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_Harry nodded and was cheered up slightly by Cho's words, although Harry still felt terrible. It had occurred to him then that Cho didn't see Harry's feelings for her as anything too serious…and perhaps she was right, Harry realized. Maybe what he felt for Cho really wasn't that serious. Hearing Cho refuse to go with him still hurt Harry, but knowing that now he knows that he'll feel better in time. "Thanks anyway, Cho. I'll still see you around, hopefully."_

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_"Okay. Later then, Harry. I'll see you around."_

_ _

_Cho gently brushed by Harry and he was subsequently left there to stand by himself. *Now what?* Harry asked himself. He had lost his chance with Cho, most likely for good, and he felt as if all his most-likely-premature feelings for her had died with that chance. What use was his dress robe and grooming when he doesn't even have a date to wear it for? What use was going to the Last Moments anyway? But Harry knew that answer --- his friends, and his first real chance to relax and have fun after Voldemort's destruction. He can't, and won't skip out if his life depended on it._

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_*Ah, well,* Harry cheered himself up and his enthusiasm returned. *I guess I'll still have fun at the Last Moments with or without Cho. And I'll definitely see Ron and Hermione there, too! I wonder who they're going with…*_

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_"Hey, Harry!"_

_ _

_Harry turned around to the sound behind him and was greeted by an excited Ron Weasley. Harry grinned and waved back, knowing that Ron was as excited about the Last Moments as Harry was…and maybe even better prepared than he was. After all, Ron --- although Harry and Hermione initially didn't approve of it--- had been going pretty steady with Ravenclaw's Mandy Brocklehurst for a year or two now, and everyone was pretty sure that Ron and Mandy would be going to the Last Moments Dance together. What escaped most, though, was what Ron and Mandy actually liked about each other to actually go steady for so long._

_ _

_And now that Harry thought about it, neither he nor Hermione really knew as well. All he knew was that he was happy for his friend and didn't mind him having a girlfriend like Mandy if Ron was happy with it. But where did that leave him and Hermione? "Ron! Good to see you! Your exams over yet?" Harry asked back teasingly as Ron stood before him._

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_Ron grinned and glared playfully at Harry. "I have the same classes you do!"_

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_"Oh, really?" Harry asked, and they both laughed cheerily. "I take it you're going to the Last Moments with Mandy, right?" Harry asked once their laughter died down, already knowing the answer to that. *And that leaves Hermione,* Harry subsequently thought. *I wonder who's going to go with her? In fact, is she even prepared for the Last Moments yet, what with how she was when examinations like that drew near? Probably does, Hermione, so that leaves me without a date. Doesn't know it, but the other boys actually like her a lot, too, if she would even talk to them. Well, only as a friend---*_

_ _

_Harry was cut off from his thoughts when Ron diverged from his discussion about how he and Mandy were preparing for the Last Moments to ask a question of his own; "…sneak to Hogsmeade for about an hour or two before coming back to sleep, since me and Mandy like the nightlife there. Say, Harry…" Ron asked thoughtfully. "Mind telling me who you're having as a date?"_

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_Harry blinked, surprised. "What-what do you mean?"_

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_"You wouldn't believe the silent talk that's been going around you now that the exams are over!" Ron exclaimed, trying to keep his voice to a minimum. "Everyone, even that flake Draco, is trying to guess who you're__ going to go to the Last Moments with! After all, they know that you're going to be there, now they're thinking about who you chose. Before everyone thought it'd be Cho, but she isn't going, and everyone, although they won't show it, is kind of dying to see who your date would be!"_

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_Harry gasped and blinked in disbelief. "By Gryffindor! You mean…you-you mean everyone's expecting__ me to have a date at the Last Moments!?" Harry blurted out, and Ron, a bit embarrassed of himself, nodded._

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_"Yeah, Harry. I guess. Basically."_

_ _

_Harry groaned silently; not only did he miss a chance with Cho, it was getting worse than he thought. Now everyone was looking to see him have one! And Harry didn't have to think of what the other seventh years would say about him if he didn't have one. Especially Draco and the Slytherins --- although whether true or not is yet to be seen, but almost all of the Slytherins boasted about having someone to go to the Last Moments with already. At least, that's what Harry himself heard. Even Draco Malfoy has some Slytherin girl with him, and this Harry knew to be true; He'd caught them but once in Hogsmeade lounging away during their sixth year, but it was enough._

_"I don't have one yet." Harry honestly replied._

_ _

_Although Ron was trying only to be helpful, his next words seemed to tell Harry something else; That led to his problem. Ron nodded understandingly. "Sorry. Well, don't worry, Harry. You don't have to have one now --- you can always choose someone to dance with who's free when the Last Moments had started."_

_Harry blinked in disbelief, as if waking from a dream. *D-dance!?* Harry asked himself, not wishing to make himself look more clueless than he already is, his thoughts circling wildly. He couldn't dance if he didn't have someone to prepare with. Harry never really wholeheartedly danced with a girl before, and didn't really know how to --- in fact, Harry didn't know how to dance, period! It was as if Voldemort himself was placed on Harry's back again, although the Dark Lord was dead as a board; Thanks to, well, someone anyway, all of the Hogwarts seventh year class is now not only expecting him to have a date for the Last Moments, but also to dance there! And dance *well!*_

_After all, they had seen Harry get by nearly everything, even near-death. They saw him get by *Voldemort,* for crying out loud. Would they really expect any less from him now? "Um, yes…d-dance. Yes, I will. I'll dance…dance. With a girl, I mean." Harry answered silently, at nearly a complete loss of words. "…There."_

_ _

_Ron waved his hands in front of Harry and looked at him quizzically, as if Harry had suddenly been petrified. "Yes, I, uh, guess. Hey, Harry? Are you sure you'll be all right? Now, I mean?"_

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_Harry blankly nodded, trying to recover. "Y…yes. I'll be fine, Ron. Really." It wasn't true by any means, Harry knew only too well. But he had to make the best of it now._

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_He didn't have a choice anymore._

_ _

***

And so here he was, thinking hard for three days now about how he would learn to dance good in a mere five days.

And Harry was still stuck in a dead end.

Somehow Harry got the crazy idea that if he had tackled the problem of knowing how to dance first, he'd solve the second problem of finding a date along with it, but that didn't help too much, either --- perhaps thinking logically like Professor McGonagall would might help, though. Harry decided to give it a try anyway.

He knew that skilled dancing wasn't something even a Great Wizard would be able to grasp in a matter of days, and there was nearly nowhere on Hogwarts that Harry would even be able to get the learning information he needed. He couldn't talk to any of the students because that'll tell everyone that he couldn't. Even if Harry got by the Last Moments without it, the Slytherins would never let him live that down, especially since this was the last dance he would be in during his school days. And he seriously doubted that Hagrid could dance, either. And none of the magical tomes in the Library would give him any---

Harry paused, something striking a chord, and began tracing back to his own thoughts to find out what. He needed to know how to dance and get a date. He can't ask anybody to teach him to dance. Nowhere in Hogwarts and no magical tome could also…

Magic!

He suddenly gained insight and chuckled out loud at his own stupidity. He had found his solution, Harry realised, and it was all right in front of him, and in his haste and desperation to fix everything he had forgotten that he was still a wizard! Harry didn't have to learn how to dance, per se; But he did know how to do magic, and he could simply use it to help him. After all, this was Hogwarts, and although this didn't seem at all like a good sport, what choice did he really have?

He remembered vividly that Sirius, his godfather, had told him once during the Triwizard Cup to use what he's best at in a problem situation. Harry felt as if the weight had been lightened slightly --- magic he knew how to do, and well. Harry had an idea what he had to do now. All that remained was to actually make that happen.

***

Expecting the Hogwarts Library to be empty after the final examinations, Harry was quite surprised to see Hermione there, pouring over books at one of the tables, as he walked in silently. He was praying for the silence and isolation; what he was about to do was sensitive and he was fervently hoping that one of the school ghosts wouldn't catch him there.But at the same time he didn't think that even Hermione would be in there! As he slowly walked in more, Harry had to constantly remind himself that this was nothing to be surprised about Hermione. _Probably here to read some more before she lost the chance, Harry thought. __Maybe she'll leave me alone._

What he didn't know was that Hermione was equally surprised; without another thought, Hermione quickly closed her books over some notes, hoping to cover up whatever she was doing. Finally seeing that it was Harry didn't help any. Holding back the urge to sweat a little, Hermione hoped that Harry would go away without noticing what she was doing, and felt even more afraid when he walked closer, looking at her inquiringly. _Stay calm, Hermione frantically told herself. __It's Harry. He won't ask. Even if he finds out, he won't tell anyone if I asked him not to. Don't worry._

Harry and Hermione merely stared at each other, dumbfounded.

"What're you doing here, Harry?" Hermione asked quickly, deciding to strike the first hit and doing her best not to sound conspicuous. "The exams are over, shouldn't you be getting ready for the Last Moments?"

Harry seemed to hesitate slightly and managed to respond, but he was less sanguine than Hermione. He fervently hoped he could discourage Hermione from asking him any more questions before he lost his calm. "Uh, yes, I'm here to, um, read." Harry answered, his voice slightly quivering. "Needed to take a rest for awhile, so, um, I thought the Library might be a good place to quiet down for a bit. What about you? Are you reading here, too?"

"Y...yes, I am. Last chance, you know. Might as well make the best of it." Hermione nodded, half between trying frantically to stay calm and praying that Harry would just leave her alone.

And then, they were stuck, Harry and Hermione looking at each other with feigned calm, Harry hoping for Hermione to turn back to her books, Hermione waiting for Harry to move. Neither dared speak. Eventually both Harry and Hermione looked away from each other momentarily, trying to think of something to break the standstill.

Then a plausible, yet seemingly farfetched thought struck them both at the same time.

"Harry..."

"Um, Hermione?"

There was a slight pause and then, with determined, risking looks in their eyes, Harry and Hermione quickly turned their heads towards each other, deciding to risk revealing their problems with a simple, yet perfectly timed question:

"_Do you know how to enchant a pair of dancing shoes?"_

***


	2. Implementation

_Dancing Shoes: Implementation_

***

_Author's Note__: Second part of 'Dancing Shoes' (of three). If you haven't read 'Dancing Shoes: Problem' before coming here, go back and read it first!!! Okay, things begin heating up quite a bit here. No, it's still light-hearted. Sort of. Promise. ^^ However, I think this part probably isn't all that good, though, and if you didn't like it, my apologies. *Sniffle sniffle* Really, I'm sorry...*sniffle, sob*...I am...Waaaaaahhhh! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry if you didn't! Romance writing has never really been my department before, so I'm sorry if I somehow messed it up! Waaaaaahhhhhh! ;_; _

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_Disclaimer__: Almost the same as before. All names and places except the two pairs of dancing shoes and two new additions --- Medea Shennas, the NPC Slytherin student who at least deserves a name, and Semie, the wonderful almost__- anime-like half-house elf extra! ---belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing and Raincoast Books._

_ _

_Special Thanks__: Special thanks go out to, again, Sarah Jane and Shadow Dragon for betaing this part. Merci Beaucoup, since Sarah Jane won't take the Japanese thanks…_

***

"_Do you know how to enchant a pair of dancing shoes?" Both Harry and Hermione asked each other at once._

The Library was silent at once; Harry and Hermione blinked at each other in confusion, neither understanding why the other had asked the same question, Harry expecting Hermione to know, Hermione expecting Harry to be able to help. Both were more confused than embarassed, though, and because of that neither dared speak until they could sort their thoughts out and be sure that they *did* ask the same question.

It was Harry who asked next. "You...you need a pair of dancing shoes, too?"

Hermione blinked in slight disbelief and nodded silently, hoping against hope that Harry was asking the same question. If he did, that would mean Hermione wouldn't have to be afraid of letting Harry know about her problems. After all, Harry had always been a reliable, strong-willed and understanding friend to her in the past, always knowing what has to be done and when to draw the line when his friends were endangered. If she didn't trust Harry Potter of all her friends, who else could she trust? Her grip on her books loosened somewhat. "You too, Harry?"

Harry relaxed considerably and nodded in reply; to hear that Hermione had the same problems was a relief to him that he won't embarass himself any more than he already did and was an assurance that Hermione won't spread that to the entire school, although Harry had always known that Hermione was one who kept those type of things, especially about her friends, to herself. Also, she was almost always calm and quick on her brains, whereas Ron was admittedly a bit hot-headed when it suited him. Although Harry was closer to Ron, that made Hermione all the more...comfortable to talk to, oddly. Maybe it's something else he doesn't know about, but that told Harry that somehow, he could trust her.

"Yes." Harry answered plainly, beyond joy of knowing that his problems had gotten even lighter.

Harry and Hermione didn't have to tell each other their problems, then; purely because they're considerate enough not to mind, but also they both understood that the other was sharing the same problems as they were...and they also knew that the other would definately prefer not to repeat it again, if it could be helped.

"So, Harry, both you and me are after the same things, right?" Hermione asked, a sudden prospect reaching into her head and cheering her up as well. "We each need a pair of dancing shoes for the Last Moments that'll help us dance really good, and..."

Harry had caught the prospect, as he was thinking of the same thing...and smiled. He sat down on a chair opposite Hermione's. "...We could help each other out! None of us had done any enchantments for so many possible things like this before, and it would go much easier if we helped each other on finding information on it, right?"

Hermione seemed equally bright. "Exactly." She replied. "Oh! Should we get Ron to help us, as well?"

Harry thought about the prospect about getting Ron to help them and shook his head doubtfully. "I don't know. I really want to, he's our best friend, hot-headed sometimes but we could trust him and I don't want him to feel left out, but..." He then gave consideration to the fact that Ron would usually, whether he liked it or not, be accompanied by Mandy Brocklehurst, and shook his head again hesitantly. "I really don't think we should, Hermione. I know we can trust Ron, but I'm not sure about Mandy at all. Besides...I think the less people that know about our little problem right now, the better."

Hermione gave some further thought and nodded in agreement. "I thought so, too. Well, Harry...maybe we should get started right away, shouldn't we? I don't think you have any more time than I do right now." Hermione answered with a slight chuckle.

"Of course." 

With that, Harry began to get up from his seat and look as Hermione opened her books again. "Oh, and Harry?"

Harry turned around from where he stood and his emerald-coloured eyes met Hermione's again. Her own eyes were bright as gems and she was wreathed in a wide smile that none had really seen of her in a long, long time. The smile felt not only heartwarming to Harry, it also felt pleasant, in a way.

"Great minds really do think alike, don't they?" Hermione asked with a bright smile. Harry looked at her playfully and smiled back. 

"Yes, they do."

***

For the next four days onwards, Harry and Hermione kept working in the Library on making two pairs of dancing shoes, and during that time very few had seen them around outside of the Library. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners went by; the common rooms bustled with activity. Everyone was anxious about the End of the Year Feasts and Graduation, and the seventh years prepared for the Last Moments with unmatched excitement. And still neither Harry or Hermione joined them. At meals they would sit down beside Ron --- who was only becoming warmer and warmer with Mandy outside of Gryffindor --- and eat with the other Gryffindors, but then they would go right back to the Library soon after. Nobody knew what Harry and Hermione were up to, and most didn't really mind at all.

A few did, though. Occasionally a student would walk into the Library to calm down from the excitement of the entire Graduation schedule, sometimes with his or her boy/girlfriend. Harry and Hermione would cover up their notes right away, not wanting to risk exposure, but usually the student would whisper or mutter something conspicuous and leave them alone. A very rare few asked what they were doing, Hermione would answer something plausible and Harry would cover for her. Then the student would leave by himself or herself. 

Harry and Hermione were thankful for it; they had yet to see either Draco (who was probably off teasing the other students or hanging out with his Slytherin girl somewhere isolated) or Ron (who was most likely preparing for the Last Moments in the Gryffindor Tower or frolicking with Mandy somewhere, although when Harry and Hermione were resting from their studies Ron would talk to them playfully for quite some time) in the Library, and all the other students either didn't mind what they were doing or went back to his/her own business. And whatever was whispered between boyfriend and girlfriend as they saw Harry and Hermione there, they both knew well, couldn't possibly be any worse than the embarassment they'd end up with if they didn't get those dancing shoes in time.

Eventually, on the night before the Last Moments Dance, Harry and Hermione had finished their task --- and were feeling rather proud of themselves for it. They felt as if all the weight had finally been taken off their shoulders, both being able to at least dance well enough in front of the entire seventh year as they had expected from the both of them. As for finding a date to go to the Last Moments with, it was as if that no longer mattered.

Due to their continuous hard work and time spent together working, Harry and Hermione had solved their own problems at last. On the table in front of them were two pairs of dress shoes: one pair blue for Harry, and one pair red to match Hermione's clothes. The sneakers were seemingly of the ones even Muggles wore, of fine construction but nothing too fancy, with the only distinguishable features marking them differently being the rubies engraved on the pads of each shoe. The sneakers themselves sparkled more than normal, and although the sneakers gave off no visible sign of magic, Harry and Hermione knew it was definately there.

They were the dancing shoes that Harry and Hermione needed.

"Harry..." Hermione whispered, at a loss for words to express the happiness she felt, her eyes tenderly meeting Harry'' own looking for the same happiness that she knew was there. She panted and breathed heavily as she looked at him, barely able to contain her excitement, and at the same time very much thankful for Harry being there for her when she felt she could go to nobody else. In fact, Hermione, for some reason unknown, felt very thankful that Harry had always *been* there for her, especially now, and that brought Hermione some sadness. "So...we've finally done it..."

Harry nodded, sharing Hermione's feelings. He was equally glad the task of making the dancing shoes was done, and now he knew that he and Hermione could finally get back to actually enjoying the Last Moments Dance tomorrow. Things were going much better than even he could've hoped for and both Harry and Hermione knew it. "We did." Harry replied, smiling. "Thanks to you, Hermione. I never would've gotten it done without you."

"Yes...we really did it...we really, really did it..." Hermione repeated, at first a whisper but growing louder and louder in pitch until it was nearly a shout, her eyes still on Harry with a gleeful look in them. Her excitement was beyond words, as was her thankfulness for Harry who was always there for her when she really needed him, especially now. Even she seem stunned at how happy she was, repeating the words. Harry was equally thankful for Hermione's help but now, for some reason unknown, he was also very much glad that she was born. Probably it was because Harry was also very excited about his problem being solved, Harry thought.

"Harry, we really did it!" Hermione suddenly squealed with delight and, her joy at its peak, suddenly threw herself into Harry's arms and hugged him tight, burying her head onto his left shoulder as if to cry, but the tears that drenched themselves on Harry next were those of happiness. Harry, caught off-balance by this new feeling, could only stagger back slightly and, gaining his balance, hug her back, sharing her joy. "Thank you, Harry! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! Thank you for being there for me now when I---"

It was then that both Harry and Hermione fell quiet and became quite stunned --- half of the extent of their hug finally got to them, and both Harry and Hermione stayed quite still, still daring not to let go, trying to sort out their feelings. The feelings of happiness and thankfulness were mutual but at the same time, the touch felt pleasant to them and neither of them wanted to let go. Hermione hugging Harry was by all means nothing new to them, but this time it was quite different for them. This time, they were, consciously or not, relishing in each other's company and the thankfulness of one being there for the other deepened more, Hermione being glad for Harry always being there for her when it counted most, Harry glad that Hermione was even born.

It was as if the dancing shoes meant nothing. It was as if---

"Hermione?"

"Um?"

"I think we should let go now."

Then the other half of the extent of the hug hit them and, with quite startled gasps, Harry and Hermione broke away from each other abruptly and stood apart, both blushing red and not daring to look each other in the eye again, notably embarassed by the act. Harry stood there in dumbfoundedness and could only guess at why he felt the way he did, which he failed to do, and Hermione cursed herself where she stood. She didn't know why she did that --- although she had hugged Harry before it was when they were both children and out of urgency. The pleasant feelings that she got out of this hug confused her and Harry even more. Harry and Hermione held their breath, trying to think of words to say.

Hermione spoke first. "S...sorry." She whispered meekly, looking down.

Harry blinked slightly at her and nodded understandingly, smiling. He didn't mind Hermione's hug as much as he had thought and, in fact, he wanted her to do it again but Harry knew that whatever it was he's feeling there was no time for that. "That's alright." Harry replied, and turned back to the dancing shoes. "So, Hermione...how do these shoes exactly work? I mean, they won't go off the moment I wear them, would they?"

Hermione chuckled and, glad to have a change of subject, turned towards the shoes as well. "Nope." Hermione answered. "Put them on before the Last Moments and when you have to dance, mutter '_Jundolis'---" Hermione glared briefly at the shoes to make sure that they don't jump by themselves yet, and signalled Harry to grab his shoes off the table first. She and Harry slowly plucked the shoes from the table and held them tight. "And then the speed of the dance. The shoes will guide your legs. So if you have to dance slow, just mutter '__Jundolis Slow'---" As if on cue, the two pairs of shoes began wiggling slowly in Harry and Hermione's hands and they held the shoes even more tightly. "And if you have to dance fast, you would mutter...well, you know."_

Harry nodded and looked down at his shoes. "Okay. But Hermione? How would we stop the shoes when the dance is over?"

"Simple." Hermione grinned, and turned to the shoes. "'_Jundolis Stop'." On cue, the shoes stopped and remained limp as if lifeless. Harry smiled and nodded. "And that would do it. We'll dance even though we don't really know how to." Hermione finished._

"I see." Harry answered, and awkwardly they both remained silent. "So...uh...I guess this is it, then. We're...done."

"Yeah." Hermione replied, and even more silence ensued, one not knowing what else to say to the other and not knowing how to part. It was then that a sudden instinct got to Harry as he thought of the dance and his final, yet by now insignificant, problem. The more he thought of it, the more it sounded pleasant to him.

"Wait, Hermione." Harry called out. "Do you have a date to the Last Moments already?"

Hermione shook her head, some intuition and fear taking hold. _Harry isn't thinking of...is he?_

"Want to go with me, then?" Harry suddenly asked before he knew what exactly he was saying.

Hermione seemed suddenly shocked by Harry's question, and Harry could only stand there and gawk at her worriedly. She didn't think Harry would ask _her at all; in fact, in all her past years, she had never even had the time to really think about things like this. After all, busy years at Hogwarts, right? And Harry and Hermione had never really been anything but friends despite their time together during the past years, right? But Hermione soon found out that she wasn't somehow really shocked because it sounded unplausible or unpleasant or anything --- come to think of it, Hermione realized that going to the Last Moments with Harry, hand in hand, wouldn't be as bad as she would've thought if she was younger. In fact, it actually seemed like a good idea. In fact---__But why me? And why now? How am I going to answer Harry now?_

Unfortunately for Harry, he didn't see things in quite the same perspective, although he was sure by now he was genuine in wanting to go with Hermione, if not a bit rushed. He took Hermione's shock as being appalled at his question and, eagerly and nervously wanting to undo the mistake of going too far, hastily opened his mouth and staggered forward to apologize. "I'm--I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't---didn't---didn't mean---"

Those words brought Hermione back into reality and she quickly turned away from Harry, gripping her dancing shoes tight. Fully conscious, she blushed brightly and didn't want Harry to see any more than he already did. _Of course he didn't, Hermione thought somewhat dejectedly, __why would he? What would he see in me other than a friend and a living textbook? Why would he really like me? Why would anyone?_

"I'm…I'm going to bed now, Harry. Thank you." Hermione blurted out abruptly and dashed out of the Library half-blindly before Harry could even stop her. She didn't want to remember anything beyond solving her problems anymore. As she made her way up the Gryffindor Tower and into her dormitory, Hermione just wanted to, for the night, shut herself out from what had just transpired with Harry. There she climbed into bed, held back the urge to cry, and fell asleep eventually. She didn't even notice where she put her dancing shoes before she climbed into bed.

And Harry was left in the Library to stare behind Hermione dumbfoundedly, unable to speak to her and at a complete loss of knowing what was wrong with her. Completely worried, Harry didn't want Hermione to feel shocked or scared or anything, and it seemed to Harry that it was now quite---really---very important that Hermione didn't feel anything of the sort. But at the same time, Harry knew that he'd only make it worse if he talked to her now --- he at least also knew, and frowned at, that Hermione's shock had something to do with him. He no longer knew what to do. He really did want to go to the Last Moments with her.

Harry somehow had the feeling that whatever had happened just then in the Library would eventually come back to haunt him and Hermione in some unexpected way. Although nobody can be completely sure of Fate especially now --- Professor Trelawney and Divination classes proved that --- Harry was completely clueless as to how close to being right he would be.

***

As sunlight shone brightly into the windows of Gryffindor Tower, Hermione slowly woke up and realized that she felt better. The confused thoughts and emotions that had plagued her the night before was no longer there and, as Hermione slowly remembered what was to happen today, she eventually felt that absolutely nothing could possibly bring her down ever again. The Last Moments Dance was tonight, her problems were solved, thanks to Harry's help --- there was just some hesitation as Hermione struggled to hold back memories of what she felt with him that night and slowly, but somewhat painstakingly, succeeded --- and for once she was actually really happy for herself.

Because of her dancing shoes which she and Harry had completed last night, Hermione knew that she couldn't lose anything. Reaching down for her shoes, she knew that once she wore those, she'll show everyone what she's made of. And Draco will get off her case. And Harry's.

Her dancing shoes were gone.

Frantically Hermione jumped up from bed and looked around --- the dancing shoes couldn't have been gone, she just had them last night! She remembered that she had placed them…rather, threw them beneath her bed before she went to sleep. Hermione checked again. They weren't there. She checked underneath other beds, and they weren't there. Soon, she had combed every single section of her dormitory and they still weren't anywhere in sight, and Hermione began to panic. There was nobody else in the dormitory, fortunately; Hermione had missed breakfast and, with everyone else pretty much completely prepared for the Last Moments by now, they were probably well on their way to hanging around somewhere or another.

Not even bothering to change out of her nightgown, Hermione walked out into the Gryffindor Common Room (the dancing shoes were _still not there) and there, sitting down and thankful for being alone for now in the entire Common Room, began to think. __I was in the Library last night with Harry…he took his pair and I took mine when…um…I ran up to the Gryffindor Tower, right into my dormitory, and then…and then…what did I do with the shoes before I climbed into bed!?_

As she continued thinking, a horrifying thought hit her; _Today's the Last Moments, which means…the laundry'll be done now! Professor Dumbledore timed it so that we'd have clean uniforms right before the Graduation Ceremony! If that Semie took my shoes…oh, no…_

With a panicked dash, Hermione ran back to the dormitory and checked the place where the laundry was usually done, hoping that the shoes were there and hoping that Hermione didn't throw them into the laundry chute while trying to drown out Harry. Hermione began to feel anxious, as she knew that she'd metaphorically die if she didn't have those shoes at the Last Moments…she'd embarrass herself to no end!!! Hermione looked and looked and the more she looked, the more desperate she became. The shoes were nowhere in sight, as were the laundry.

Just as Hermione was going to try the Library again, she bumped hard into a small shape as she got to the door.

"Ouch!" A squeaky, high-pitched voice cried out as Hermione tripped and fell unceremoniously onto the ground, and she frantically pulled herself up to see what it was that she bumped into. Semie, a house-elf who was hired to help with the Gryffindor Tower chores back when Hermione was in her fifth year so Caretaker Filch wouldn't have an excuse to complain, sat bruised in front of her in all of Semie's 3', long-eared, golden-hair pigtailed and big, blue-eyed glory, with an almost Muggle anime-like quality to her looks --- quite unlike other house elves, which once made others speculate on what exactly Semie was (it was once rumored that Professor Dumbledore had taken in Semie since the other wizards didn't want her out of her 'strange' looks). Hermione was normally glad to see Semie; Semie was cheery and bright almost all the time, although she could be a bit childish if it suited her. However, Hermione soon remembered that she had no time for games.

"Semie!" Hermione exclaimed as she helped Semie to her feet, and Semie gave the obligatory wide, cute smile in return. It made her look a bit cartoonish, but nevertheless sweet in her ways. "I was just going to look for you! Listen...sorry I don't have time to play, but this is important. Have you picked up a pair of red dress shoes with two rubies on the soles by any chance?"

"Shoes?" Semie asked back playfully. "Shoes? Poor Miss Hermi lose her shoes?"

Hermione held back the frustration and urge to slap Semie and nod back. "I need those shoes today, Semie! Well? Have you seen them?"

Semie shuffled nervously, and Hermione felt herself sweat. "Semie...you didn't."

Semie pouted, blinking once at Hermione, and lowered her head with a guilty look. "Semie...took Hermi's shoes to the laundry! Semie saw Hermi's shoes lying on the ground next to the laundry chute and thought Miss Hermi wanted her shoes washed...so Semie took them!"

Hermione gasped in both surprise and terror. "Oh, no! I...I must've accidentally thrown my shoes next to the laundry chute by mistake when I went to bed last night! Semie, you didn't wash them already, did you!?" _If Semie did wash them, I'm finished! The Jundolis enchantment wears off when completely washed with magical means or water, and if Semie washed them, those dancing shoes will be useless! "Semie, why didn't you ask me before taking it down to laundry!?"_

But Hermione's words of panic only served to further depress Semie, who had now sunk onto the ground and curled into a ball, holding her mouth, her eyes watering. "Semie...Semie's sorry, Miss Hermi!" Semie cried out despairingly. "Semie saw Hermi's shoes lying next to the laundry chute and Miss Hermi's asleep and Semie thought Miss Hermi wanted them washed! Semie's sorry, Semie's sorry, really, Semie's sorry!!!"

Hermione managed to calm down enough to kneel down and pat Semie on the comfortingly as the house elf began to cry. The fault, after all, wasn't Semie's for not knowing, nor was it Harry's. It was Hermione's fault and now she had to deal with it. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Semie. I know it's not your fault."

"Semie really am sorry, Miss Hermi..." Semie whimpered, still curled up into a ball.

"But what am I going to do now? I needed those shoes...and now..." Hermione sighed resignedly, more to herself than Semie, slumping down onto the ground in front of Semie and felt all energy gone. "I needed those shoes for the dance tonight! What am I even supposed to do now at the Last Moments!? How am I going to look at everyone?"

Semie looked up and blinked at Hermione, some tears in her eyes and her face puffy. "Semie don't know what's going on but Semie really wish Semie could help Miss Hermi..."

Hermione waved dismissingly. "No...that's alright, Semie. You better go. I just need to think..."

Semie nodded and began walking away. "Al...alright, Miss Hermi. Tell Semie if Semie can help."

After Semie was well away from the dormitory, Hermione uneasily picked herself up and sat down onto her bed, where she sighed, put her hands on her head and felt whatever was left of her dignity slowly leave her. Without her shoes, she couldn't bear to go to the Last Moments with anyone, even herself. And if she didn't go, it'd be much worse than actually going. She sat there and, trying hard not to cry again, hoped against all hope that everything will, somehow, turn out alright in the end like a classic Muggle fairytale, near-impossible that it was.

***

The Last Moments dance was held, for perhaps the first time in years, in a grand banquet hall somewhere in Hogsmeade and the seventh years that attended it --- most of them --- couldn't have been more happier to see it. Looking generally much like a medieval-times castle banquet hall, the Last Moments dance was a myriad fantasy of many colors of enchanted lights and florescent colored banners. The banquet hall is divided into two halves; one half held a neat array of long banquet tables and chairs, more elaborately decorated than those at Hogwarts, and a variety of refreshments lay at one side of the hall, and the other half had a podium where a music band and DJ sat among the many instruments and music players --- some made by wizardry, others being Muggle objects enchanted to work effeciently, to play Muggle songs without interference. Between the tables and the podium, a large section had been left cleared to be the dance floor and above it a shining silver sphere, enchanted yet designed to copy a Muggle 'disco sphere', hung with multicolored lights.

A variety of house-elves and other attendants milled about while the music band played and played to keep with the constant demand of music. To the other end of the podium, Professor Minerva McGonagall --- easily recognizable with the glasses and tied-back black hair but more radiant and shimmering in a long, emerald nightgown --- sat beside another attendant, holding a wineglass in her hand and generally, although observant as always, looking quite pleased with herself. It was, after all, the last year for the students, and Minerva was quite pleased to have had taught them. At her request she was the only senior Hogwarts staff to be allowed to be present, much to the consternation of the other staff members (in particularly Snape, who insisted he be present until Dumbledore pointed out that house points were no longer being counted in the dance); she knew she asked to be here to make sure nothing went wrong, but her years had also taught her to allow herself a little indulgence now and then. And besides supervision work, Minerva intended to do just that.

In fact, even without her, the seventh years were already enjoying themselves; some dancing with their partners to the beat of both magical tunes and Muggle music, some seated down on tables to eat and drink or to talk, and some lying along the walls merely to observe the scene. All were nevertheless dressed for the occasion, shining in many robes, cloaks and clothes of many colors, groomed well and made up. A select few, though, still hadn't gotten into enjoying themselves at the Last Moments dance and were either waiting outside for someone they missed or seated around looking for others.

Harry, Ron and Mandy belonged to the former.

All of them, too, were dressed well for the occasion: Ron's curly, reddish hair was brushed back neatly, and Mandy curled her black hair into braids, and while Ron wore a neat black and white suit Mandy had on a sparkling black dress. Both she and Ron wore bright red cloaks over them and as they waited they held each other's hands tight. As for Harry, he was no less impressive; although his messy brownish-black hair had remained the way they did each strand seemed to shine reflectively with polish, his glasses were now gold-rimmed --- a small present that his godfather Sirius had given him a year ago --- with the same round lenses, and about him he wore elaborate black robes with blue trimmings on them which, although they didn't sparkle nearly as much as the others did, still made Harry nevertheless look both handsome and radiant. Even his lightning scar, a permanent mark which not even the Dark Lord's demise could remove, seemed lighter-colored and less stuck out. And on his feet, most importantly for him, were the sparkling dancing shoes he and Hermione made the night before.

The warm night winds nicely complemented the stars that shone above Hogsmeade on the night sky and the atmosphere couldn't get even more pleasant...but Harry, Ron and even Mandy knew that without Hermione, the Last Moments dance seemed incomplete. Even Mandy, who had eventually grown to like Hermione as a friend but not nearly as close as Harry or Ron, seemed concerned. "Where is Hermione?" Ron asked slightly impatiently. "Is she even going to be here?"

"I hope so. I don't see why she shouldn't." Harry whispered back, sounding faraway, and both Ron and Mandy blinked at him. "She's probably just a bit late getting ready." Harry knew that with the dancing shoes finished, Hermione should have no reason not to come to the Last Moments anymore, and whenever Hermione really wanted to do something she would do it unless something big happened in the meantime. Harry was concerned for her this way, partly because he was expecting Hermione to be here and partly because he _wanted to see her here. "I hope." Harry added silently to himself._

"Um, are you sure you're alright, Harry?" Ron asked curiously and Mandy shared his inquiring gaze. Ron hadn't seen Harry that out of tune with reality since...well, since the Dark Lord got resurrected three years ago. Ron was naturally concerned with Harry's well-being; Mandy shared his feelings, but also managed to devise something else of the scene and held back the urge to chuckle. "You've been quite out of it since you noticed that Hermione isn't here yet! What's wrong?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Ron. I'm just a bit worried about her, really. Hermione said she'd be here."

"A bit, Harry?" Ron asked doubtfully. "Are you really alright?"

Harry mutely nodded again. "Yes."

Mandy then conspiringly whispered something in Ron's ear, and instinctively his eyes widened as he gawked at Harry about something. Harry didn't answer or seem to notice anything. "Harry..." Ron blurted out in surprise, blinking once for effect, and then his surprise melted away with a sly smile on his face. "Why aren't you and her---" Before Ron could finish, however, Mandy was already well onto trying to drag Ron back inside the dance hall, giggling, as Ron stared intently at Harry.

"Ah, she'll be alright. Don't worry, Harry." Mandy cheerfully replied. "Come on, Ron! Dance with me!"

"B-But Mandy! Harry..." Ron began to protest.

"He'll be okay! Trust me! C'mon, they're playing our song!" Mandy reassured and Ron, doubtful at first but eventually catching Mandy's drift, smiled at her warmly and went with her into the dance hall. Harry, grateful for being left alone, was left to both think and to wait for Hermione. With one last look in Mandy and Ron's direction, Harry sighed. _Mandy does have a way of cheering people around her, I guess. I don't know how, but she does, Harry thought to himself resignedly. __Maybe that's what Ron likes about her. I mean, she's always so cheery, it does get infectious..._

Harry looked forward again, looking for any telltale glint of a broom or the swing of long, brown hair but found no trace of her. _She's rarely like this, Harry frowned. __Especially since she should have no reason why she shouldn't come to the dance. Maybe I should go back to Hogwarts and see if she's alright...come on, Hermione...what happened to you?_

"You're looking for me, Harry?" Hermione's voice whispered from behind him.

"Hermione! I thought you wouldn't---"

Harry turned around to look at her, and was confronted with an extremely pleasant sight. Hermione looked absolutely beautiful compared to past times, at least to Harry; Her normally flowing hair was tied back into a single, long ponytail with a red butterfly ribbon, and the dress she wore under a red, silk robe was also a shimmering red, long and flowing with sparkling patterns adorning the dress lines. An orange ribbon was tied around her waist like a loose belt and, as well, her fingernails were of a matching, glowing shade of red (thanks to magical enchantments, Harry guessed). Even for going to a ball, she looked stunning.

Harry, blushing intently as he looked at her, seemed to lose hesitation to tell her such. In fact, Harry was so absorbed with how Hermione looked that he didn't notice that she wasn't wearing her dancing shoes at all, nor did she have them anywhere near her. "You look beautiful, Hermione." Harry iterated, stunned beyond belief that the young woman standing in front of him was _his Hermione._

But then Harry saw that although she looked stunning, she also seemed suddenly distant and reluctant, and his disbelief gave way to concern. Hermione merely nodded, her lips curled into a small, forced smile.

"Th...thank you, Harry." Hermione whispered and looked down, half to avoid his inquiring eyes and the concern that she knew was forthcoming, and half to see if Harry had on his dancing shoes. "I see you've got your dancing shoes on."

"Yes, I do. What about you?" Harry looked down at his shoes and grinned at her. Hermione didn't return the smile. Now very concerned, Harry blinked and took an involuntary step towards her --- in response, Hermione instinctively stepped back and Harry stopped where he stood. "Hermione, what's wrong? Is everything alright?" Harry asked worriedly. Hermione shook her head.

_Other than facing the biggest embarassment I'd have in my Hogwarts years in front of every seventh year, yes, everything's alright, Hermione bitterly thought, wanting to tell Harry that, wanting someone, anyone (except Draco) to just hold her and tell her that everything was really alright. She wanted Harry to tell her that as he stood in front of her, because coming from him, Hermione had known for years, was the most assuring. However, she knew that it was all wishful thinking, and resigned herself to whatever she could make of it. Hermione nodded absently as Harry waited patiently for her answer. "Everything's fine, Harry. Everything's just fine." Hermione answered more firmly and, having composed herself somewhat, smiled a little wider._

Harry wasn't completely convinced, but decided not to pursue it any further. After all, the Last Moments Dance would certainly cheer her up --- that is, as long as she didn't have to dance in front of everyone because they wanted her to. "Shall we go, then?" Harry asked in his most polite voice, smiling.

Hermione replied with a wide, but forced smile of her own, reaching out her right hand towards him. "My pleasure, Harry." Harry took Hermione's arm and, hesitantly at first but gathering up courage as time passed, put it around his as they both walked into the dance hall together. Harry didn't know at the time what happened to Hermione, but he had a hidden feeling that he would soon find out.

***

Both Harry and Hermione could tell that most of the others were having fun already, without them, which was a sort-of blessing for the both of them. As fast songs played on the enchanted stereo equipment on the podium, much of the seventh years --- single or not --- were already dancing to the beat without care, while the others lounged around at the sides or on the refreshment tables to take in the scene. Only a few attentive ones noticed Harry and Hermione walk in together, and although the music drowned out any individual noise from far away, those Slytherins laughed conspiringly while those of the other houses sighed dreamily at them. Although Harry still didn't take it in at the time, Hermione saw that differently. Knowing what to expect, she saw everyone --- Slytherin or not --- snickering at her, waiting for the embarassing show that she would put on eventually, and for a moment she wanted to just leave Harry and back out of the dance altogether.

But Hermione knew she couldn't do that. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Hermione snapped into reality long enough to catch a glimpse of Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, a few other Slytherins and his date --- a cruelly beautiful, blond haired girl with a proud, yet almost sinister smile and a willowy body which others would die for --- talking up a storm and snickering at something every five words or so. Harry gave a small 'hmmph' at the sight, and although Draco had yet to notice them, Hermione felt scared and involuntarily took a step back, hiding behind Harry.

By now, Harry was sure something else was wrong with Hermione, other than her problem. "Hermione, what is it?" Harry inquired. "You look afraid of something!"

Hermione blinked at him and moved forward again awkwardly. She couldn't bear to tell Harry that she was afraid of Draco and what embarassment he would bring her --- not now, not in public. "N-Nothing, Harry. I guess I'm just nervous."

Thankfully, however, Ron and Mandy, hand in hand, soon appeared in front of them and blocked Draco away from their view. It didn't take a master wizard to see that they, too, had been having fun; Mandy had a satisfied grin on her and Ron seemed slightly exasperated with the dancing. Notably relieved, Harry and Hermione smiled at Ron, who smiled back warmly, and Mandy giggled at something. "I don't think Professor Trelawney ever saw this day coming." Ron teased, and Harry laughed. "I thought you'd never come here."

Harry broke away from Hermione momentarily to hug Ron. "I almost didn't want to." Harry replied happily.

"I know." Ron replied proudly, and smiled.

Mandy snickered. "I'm sure." She turned to Hermione, who gave her a weak grin in return. "And you look good, Hermione. I'm glad you came also."

Hermione nodded in acknowledgement.

"It's a shame you and Hermione missed the first songs, Harry." Ron chimed in. "Everyone who danced was going crazy. Even Draco and Medea were so into it, although they didn't dance, they stopped cursing at the other seventh years for the first hour or so."

They turned to see Draco and his girl, Medea Shennas, who were still talking away with the other Slytherins around them ignorant of the dance. "Thankfully." Mandy said jokingly. "Draco cursing at us would be clearly heard even if the band up there turned up the volume until Hogsmeade got destroyed." Everyone laughed heartily in reply, and even Hermione held back a giggle.

"I'm sure, Mandy." Harry replied between chuckles. "Question is, would you and Ron have any energy left to dance the slow ones at this rate?"

Both Ron and Mandy blushed. It was true: both the band and the DJ handling the Muggle objects seemed to be playing purely fast-paced, upbeat songs for the beginning hours, saving the slow ones for the later hours of the dance. Usually, the first slow song at these dances were dedicated to one couple, and one alone; it was by no means obvious which couple it would be, though, even to themselves. "We'll see, Harry." Ron answered, smiling both proudly and a bit shyly. "But I'm not going to miss that, am I?"

Hermione remained silent, and Harry nodded. "I know you won't, Ron. You never were the type to back away from anything."

Ron snickered quietly. "I almost wanted to."

"I know." Harry answered cheerfully.

The end of the fast song that was playing brought about a momentarily silence that brought Harry, Hermione, Ron and Mandy to attention, followed by loud cheering and clapping of hands from almost everyone else in the dance hall that quickly drowned out all other conversation, and the multicolored lights gave way to bright white that illuminated the hall brightly. Although the noise was deafening, seeing was clear; on the podium, they could see the DJ conversing with the band. As the cheering died down, Harry began to smile with excitement but Hermione knew what was going to come and, unnoticed by Harry, began to shiver.

"They're starting the slow dance." Ron whispered.

"Yes." Harry said.

"I know." Hermione whispered back with notable nervousness, and both Harry and Ron turned towards her quizzically.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked back, his voice down to a whisper. _What could go wrong? Don't you have your dancing shoes, too?_

"I...I'm fine." Hermione answered absently. _No, everything's going downhill. "I'm just nervous." __So nervous that I could die. I might as well, since in three minutes I'll be embarassed to death anyway._

"Alright, what happened?" Ron asked. Even Mandy looked at Hermione with concern.

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She wanted to tell Ron and Harry her imminent problems, but it was too late for that either way. All eyes were suddenly on the podium as Minerva McGonagall, smiling and prepared, strode up to the center and began to speak. Harry, Ron and Mandy awaited her words with enthusiasm, but Hermione shivered with fear as she waited.

"Greetings to all of you, ladies and gentlemen." Minerva exclaimed firmly, her voice magically amplified and echoing within the walls of the dance hall. Everyone recognized the firmness and impressiveness in her tone of voice which was heard so many times throughout their school years, guiding them in more ways than one, but they could also notice some joy and pride --- which was not at all unusual for her --- in her voice as well. "Well, it almost seemed like only yesterday I was still teaching you all in Transfiguration class, or keeping some of you in check---" Minerva's eyes darted momentarily to Draco and his group of Slytherins and then at Harry, Ron and Hermione. "---Or helping you get along in a direction." Her voice began to quiver slightly. "Many memories of that."

Minerva covered her eyes for a minute, and it didn't take a good wizard to see that she was crying. Nobody seemed to mind at all, though, and after awhile Minerva, eyes slightly red and cheeks damp, put a slightly forced smile on her lips and continued on. Both Harry and Hermione knew that she was sincere, but even they wondered if strict, firm Professor McGonagall even cried at least once like that every single graduation and felt the better for it. "I certainly do remember, and I can say that even though almost every single one of you had done some magic outside of school rules and even got yourselves that close to not being allowed to finish, I'm sure, I'm still proud to have had taught you."

There was a bout of laughter --- even Hermione chuckled briefly --- followed by a round of applause which died down after a few moments. Minerva continued on. "I'm sure you all remember that, too, and I'm sure you're all proud of yourselves. After all, you have no reason not to, right?"

More clapping and cheering. "Although in a few days many of you will be on your separate ways in the wizarding world, I know that many of you will still remember your years at Hogwarts in the future, when your own children will go to school. You'll remember what you learned here, what you saw here, and did here, and the people you met in Hogwarts. Most of all...you'll remember the friends you've found here that helped you get by your years and stayed with you, and maybe that special someone who you're more than friends with. There'll be people you admire, people you hate, but generally there'll be people you want to remember for the rest of your life.

"Before the Graduation Ceremony tomorrow, this is what tonight, the Last Moments Dance is about: getting together with your friends and special someones and enjoying both those moments you've seen with them, and those that you will in the future."

The magical lights above constricted into a single, large beam of light as Minerva continued with the rest of her speech. "So, as we continue on with the Last Moments Dance tonight, I hope that you will enjoy tonight and treasure those close to you as you spend your time with them, as I will enjoy being in your company tonight. Thank you very much, everyone, for my memories of you."

There was even more excited clapping and cheers. Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, Hermione could almost see that Draco had finally noticed her and turned towards her, with what seemed to be the most malicious and obnoxious smile on his face, and Hermione felt as if she was going to be sick. _Didn't he have that look? Hermione couldn't be sure, as he was quite some distance away from her, but already she didn't have a good feeling about it --- that look on Draco's face as Hermione saw him seemed as if he was waiting for something from her. __Could Draco really have...?_

Hermione shook her head hesitantly and turned back to Professor McGonagall to hear her finishing words --- which she might as well not have. "Therefore, by your requests, we dedicate this first song to a very special couple we have with us this evening and ask them to step forward for the first dance. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."

Both Harry and Hermione felt their hearts pound suddenly as everyone in the dance hall turned to them and the large light beam shone upon them. They knew everyone was expecting them to dance already, but being asked to dance like this, being put right on the spot in the dance, was completely beyond even their expectations. Harry nervously looked around at everyone else, and Hermione began to sweat with panic. Surprised, they turned conveniently towards Mandy; in fact, this seemed to have surprised Ron as well, as he was also glaring at Mandy with a mostly shocked, a-little-amazed look in his eyes.

"_Mandy, what's going on here?" Harry, Ron and Hermione asked simultaneously._

Mandy shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Well, uh...since everyone saw Harry and Hermione around each other so much after the exams and everyone seemed to feel they're so cute with each other we, um, sort of asked to have them do the first dance. I just voted, I didn't have anything to do with planning it, I swear!" Mandy added quickly and giggled. The words had another effect almost right away; Harry and Hermione turned away from each other blushing like the sky fell open --- neither of them had obviously thought about that at all, and the conspiring whispers in the ears were suddenly clear to them now, and both Harry and Hermione didn't know how to react to that --- and Ron glared at them in disbelief, also having not seen this predicament.

"Why didn't you tell me about it at least, Mandy?" Ron asked loudly, slightly peeved at being left out at both ends.

"They wanted it to be a surprise. Sorry, Ron." Mandy smiled innocently. "And besides, don't they really look cute together?"

Ron blinked and gave a sly smile the more he thought about it. "Not at first, but now that you mention it, Mandy..."

"Ron!" Both Harry and Hermione exclaimed, exasperated.

"Sorry, sorry, but honestly, you, uh, somewhat do, really..." Ron giggled and replied, and looked back to Mandy curiously. "But if you didn't think of this, who did?"

"You're not afraid now, are you, Mudblood?"

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mandy turned towards where Draco Malfoy now stood beside Mandy, with Medea next to him, both with an expectant, cruel smile on their faces --- the same cruel smile that Hermione could've sworn she had seen on Draco earlier during Minerva's speech. Hermione shivered and stepped away from him towards Harry, and both Harry and Ron glared at him angrily. "Draco Malfoy." Harry muttered. "I should've thought you would be behind this. But if you wanted to embarass Hermione, you really didn't need to do this."

Draco kept his smile, but shook his head with expectance. "Oh, no, Potter. Do not get me wrong. I would never get my hands dirty on things like this." Draco sneered proudly. "I did not have to. Everyone else did --- I merely went 'along with the flow' as Muggles say, and waited to watch the show. How does it feel to be famous for all of five minutes, Mudblood? I thought you were going to 'teach' me how to dance?"

Hermione remained adamantly silent. "Leave her alone, Malfoy. Tonight's not a good time." Ron stated firmly.

"If not now, what other time is there? You tell me, Weaselly." Draco countered.

"It's not your business whether she wants to dance or not, Malfoy. She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to, not for anyone." Harry retorted. "It's not, even if you use the Imperius Curse on Hermione to force her to dance, in which case I'll---"

"It is now. Everyone's waiting, Potter. Would you much rather disappoint them?" Medea chimed in a cruelly bell-like voice. "Why don't you let everyone around you see how good you and Mudblood dance, as Mudblood said she would?"

"But---" Harry began, but Draco and Medea had already turned around and walked away from them.

"Good luck, Potter. You and Mudblood will need it." Draco countered and, with an arrogant laugh, disappeared back into the crowd. Harry looked around; the clapping had stopped and everyone, from the Slytherins to the bands, and even Professor McGonagall --- with a puzzled look on her face --- were looking at him and Hermione, waiting. Some had already began to talk and mutter. Seeing that, Hermione remembered her new problem and her nervousness returned full force, and she looked down to avoid everyone's eyes as Harry turned to Hermione, and then to Ron.

"Hermione? Ron, what do we do now? We can't go out there like this!" Harry whispered desperately, and looked back to Hermione worriedly. It had occured to Harry that he had no real problem with dancing anymore, now that he had his shoes, but he also knew that Hermione shouldn't go dancing if she was scared of it --- and it had occured to him that the fact that Hermione was unhappy with dancing seemed infinately more important than the fact that Harry was ready to. "Hermione can't go out there! Can't you see how scared she is?"

Ron also looked at Hermione and turned back to Harry with a sigh. He also noticed that Hermione was scared, but since he didn't know that Harry and Hermione had a problem with dancing in the first place or that Hermione had lost her dancing shoes, he didn't understand Hermione's problem as much as Harry did. "I know, Harry." Ron whispered back solemnly, trying to offer any consolation at all. "But rather than not going, you and Hermione might as well get it over with. Just don't mind them at all --- dance for yourselves. Sure, the Slytherins will keep at you and Hermione for the rest of the year, but who listens to them? No one'll say anything."

"Just go ahead, Harry. Don't worry about anything." Mandy added.

_Dance for yourselves. Harry pondered that line with some interest and realized that Ron and Mandy's advice was right. Somehow, that line alone stuck out at Harry and he felt that it would be important in the long run, but quickly Harry shrugged it off, smiled wryly, and turned back to Hermione wistfully. "You're right, Ron. We might as well get it over with, it's just five minutes. Shall we, Hermione?"_

But Hermione wasn't listening at all --- her head was lowered avoiding all eye contact, her face was puffy and her entire body shivered with nervousness. Tears were welling out of her eyes, and although Hermione's lips were sealed tight, Harry could see that she was on the verge of crying. He blinked, concerned, and hesitantly reached out a hand towards her shoulder. "Hermione?" Harry asked, concerned.

Hermione still didn't hear him. The more she thought about the first dance, the more nervous and frightened she became. She lost her dancing shoes, and Harry didn't know it at all, and everyone else was waiting for her to embarass herself. In her mind's eye, she saw a completely different scene and her tears flowed more freely; she saw herself on the dance floor, clumsy as never before as she tried to dance to whatever tune was playing, the disaster she had with Krum three years ago repeating on Harry. She saw everyone snickering to themselves, and Draco's look of satisfaction as he saw her embarassment. She then saw Ron and Mandy nervously look around, sympathetic for their friend, and Harry standing beside her, blushing nervously, embarassed to no end right beside her...

_Leave me alone, Hermione wanted to suddenly yell out in her loudest voice, wanting to get away from everything, and that thought became so prevalent that she actually did. "__Leave me alone, Harry! I don't want to dance! I never even wanted to come here, so everyone just leave me alone!!!"_

Everyone heard her. The crowd was silent with disbelief and slight pity, and Minerva looked at Hermione with concern. The Slytherins, who were waiting for Hermione's embarassment but were still not prepared for Hermione's sudden reaction, were stunned into silence, and even Draco was momentarily surprised. Ron and Mandy gasped and shivered involuntarily as they looked at Hermione; Harry began to sweat. "H...Hermione, wait..." Harry managed to blurt out.

Having brought the hall to silence and completely ashamed of herself, Hermione began to sob pitifully --- a chilling, sad sound that pierced Harry's heart and made him and Ron doubly worried --- and, her head still lowered and covering her face with both her hands, Hermione ran blindly out of the dance hall. The sounds of her sobbing eventually died down the further she got from the hall, leaving Harry, Ron and Mandy to look behind where she left --- and it was then Harry finally noticed that Hermione wasn't wearing her dancing shoes at all.

In full understanding and cursing himself for his stupidity, Harry instinctively took a step forward towards the exit and turned worriedly to Ron and Mandy, who seemed equally concerned but more clueless. Harry was about to call Ron over when he suddenly remembered that Ron and Mandy don't know about the problem he and Hermione had, and the one now, and he knew that Hermione would prefer it if Ron and Mandy didn't know about it. "Hermione!" Harry called out, and turned to Ron apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ron. Let me talk to her. I know you want to help, but Hermione would prefer that only I talk to her. Sorry..." Harry whispered, and quickly left after Hermione.

"Wait! Well, I'm going, Harry! She's my friend, too!" Ron tried to stop him and, seeing that it was to no avail, followed Harry out as well with concern. Mandy followed Ron, wanting to help although she was as clueless as Ron was. And as Minerva followed suit by giving some semblance of orders to the bands and leaving behind Harry, Ron and Mandy, Draco, with Medea close to him, leaned back against a wall and snickered in an attempt to break the mood, somewhat satisfied but still surprised.

"I knew that Mudblood would get scared away! I was right, was I not?" Draco sneered, looking behind where Hermione and her concerned and worried friends left the hall in haste. "Better that she does not come back, too! This is not at all the place for her at all..."

***


	3. Solution

Dancing Shoes: Solution

_Dancing Shoes: Solution_

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_Author's Note: The third and last part of 'Dancing Shoes'. There, you can all breathe now, and wave flags and throw confetti, or whatever to celebrate --- just let me in, okay, and don't make me dance? ^^ If you haven't read the first two chapters of this story, *read them now*!!! Well, I'm not going to spoil anything, but to those of you that complain I should have a different pairing or ending: Ha! Too late! In your face! (beats himself up) Ow. Anyway, hope you liked the story overall...fluffy to semi-fluffy romance writing was never my department to begin with, so this is new for me, and so this was quite difficult to write. And do tell me about it, alright? Oh...did I finally mention that if you skipped the first two chapters you should go back and read them? I did? Okay, if you haven't read the first two chapters, read them now. Ha. ^^ Okay, later._

_ _

_--Cybaster_

_"Believe in the Sign of Zeta!!!"_

_ _

_Disclaimer: Same as before. All names and places but, of course, Harry's pair of dancing shoes and the wonderful almost-anime-like house elf extra known as Semie, belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, and Raincoast Books._

_ _

*              *                *

Fortunately for Harry, Hermione didn't run very far from the dance hall --- but even from a distance and from behind her, Harry already knew that she was a literal wreck deep inside. Taking a deep breath, Harry slowly moved towards her, looking at her wistfully. Harry felt that somehow it was his fault things had taken this turn; if he had checked with Hermione about the dancing shoes before coming to the dance, he would know about the new problem and helped Hermione fix it...and if he had even known about it before Harry took Hermione into the dance hall, she wouldn't have had to face all that.

Ludicrous as they sounded, Harry could almost think of countless reasons why Hermione's sadness was his fault alone, and Harry only seemed all the more convinced that it was so. He knew that he had to make things right for Hermione again, but this time Harry had little confidence in himself --- to defeat a Death Eater or even Voldemort with magic is one thing, but to cure Hermione's heart in a situation like this was nothing that magic could do.

Harry took another deep breath, sighed, and kept walking forward until he was a single foot away from Hermione. Her hands covering her eyes and face and sobs still escaping her lips, Hermione was still crying and shutting herself out in a last attempt to comfort herself, which wasn't at all working.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, and Hermione quickly waved him away without even turning around.

"Just leave me alone, okay, Harry?" Hermione whimpered coarsely, nearly choking on her own words. "Please..."

"I..." Harry bowed his head, fearful of looking at her directly and seeing her cry. "...I'm really sorry. I know now. I know about---"

Harry stopped in mid-speech as he heard Ron and Mandy come up behind him and stand consolingly beside her, trying their best to help. Ron gave Harry a worried glance; Mandy looked at Hermione and hesitantly touched her shoulder, only to have Hermione shove Mandy's hand away violently and continue crying. Harry was glad for their support even though he had told them not to, and at the same time peeved by their presence: only Harry knew about Hermione's problem and her new problem was because of the old one, and he'd prefer that it stayed that way, no matter how trustworthy Ron and Mandy were. It'd certainly make Hermione less embarassed.

"Talk to me, Hermione." Ron demanded sternly. "What's going on?"

"We're only trying to help, Hermione." Mandy answered. "Whatever happened, we're not going to laugh at you or anything, alright? We just want to see what's going on."

But Hermione was adamantly silent. She couldn't talk to anyone about her embarassment because she can't let anyone know about her previous problem, either, and while Harry knew, she couldn't talk to him if Ron, Mandy and pretty much the entire school would be on their case. Although she knew that crying never helped her before, Hermione now felt that it was the only option everyone was leaving her, as if crying could make it all go away, make all this a dream and her wake up to the beautiful graduation waiting for her. It was ludicrous, but at the moment, it was all Hermione wanted to do.

"Come on, Hermione. Please talk to me. Whatever it is you and Harry know about, you can tell me." Ron pleaded, not wishing for Hermione to be like this or for himself to be left out anymore. When Hermione likewise gave him no answer, he looked at Mandy with a hopeless look and fought to keep his temper. "I don't want to be left out of this, okay? Please, tell me what's going on!"

Harry decided that things were going nowhere fast, and decided to act. First, since only he and Hermione were the ones that knew about the whole business --- and decided to keep it that way --- he knew that only he should even talk to Hermione about it right now. As bad as it sounded and was, he'll have to get Ron and Mandy away. "Ron---" Harry began, and stopped when he saw Professor McGonagall walk up to where they were as well. Harry frowned: the last thing Hermione needed was Professor McGonagall, followed by probably the rest of the dance, being there as well.

"Is Miss Granger alright?" Professor McGonagall asked with concern. "Is there anything I could do for her right now, Mr Potter?"

"Well, Professor---" Ron began with a slightly angry tint, but both Harry and Mandy stopped Ron short, who looked at his two friends with annoyance. Hermione still refused to answer, and merely kept crying to herself.

"Professor McGonagall..." Harry began, taking a deep breath. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but...I know what Hermione's problem is...I'm the only one who knows, and it's better now that it remains that way. Please, let me try to talk to her alone. She doesn't need lots of people ogling her right now."

Ron looked at Harry in shock; Mandy remained silent as she tried to think. "Are you sure you would not be needing our help, Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall replied, doubtful. "It would be better if Miss Granger talked to more than one person right now."

"No, not this time." Harry shook his head. "Please, Professor, trust me on this. And can you please keep the rest of the class from coming out here and staring at her? Especially Draco?"

By now, Professor McGonagall was thoroughly, if not completely, convinced that Harry was right; Hermione was embarassed about something and the best she could do was keep everyone from making her even more embarassed --- especially Draco, who had already probably jumped the chance and wouldn't hesitate to do any more damage. Whatever was happening, she could see that Harry had a clear idea of Hermione's problem and was probably the best person to solve it. Nodding in agreement, she gestured for Ron and Mandy to follow her. "Alright then, Mr Potter. I'll start the dance without you two --- that should keep everyone occupied. If you decide to change your mind, I'll be on the podium, as always." Professor McGonagall smiled assuringly, only a bit doubtful still, and began walking back towards the dance hall. "Mr Weasley? Miss Brocklehurst? Let's leave them alone for a bit."

"But---" Ron began to protest, but Mandy looked back at him with a steady look that told Ron everything was going to work out (the same one Ron had always seen of Mandy over and over and never failed to cheer him up), and Ron stopped to give her, and Harry, a wry smile. Letting Mandy take him by the arm, Ron followed Professor McGonagall towards the dance hall again. "Alright, Mandy, I know you're right. Let's go back and start dancing, alright?"

"Ron? Mandy?"

Ron and Mandy turned back to Harry with an expectant look, who was looking back at them with a warm, and grateful, smile.

"Thanks for understanding. I promise I'll tell you everything after the dance." Harry whispered gratefully.

Both Ron and Mandy nodded warmly and, knowing Harry would succeed, turned around towards the dance behind Professor McGonagall. As they left, Harry took a slight moment to distract himself as Mandy began to bring herself and Ron away: "I want to dance all the slow songs they'll be playing, Ron, but are you sure you can handle it? If not, we could rest awhile after every, um, four or five songs..."

Hermione's whimper brought Harry back to reality and he turned back to the problem at hand, his heart feeling lightened with the task --- and knowing that Hermione was also slightly grateful, as well. "Hermione..." Harry began softly. "I...I know now. About the shoes, I mean. What happened to them?"

Hermione shook her head quickly. Knowing that they were finally alone and it would stay that way, Hermione wanted to tell Harry, but the words wouldn't come out. It felt too embarassing for her to even say it. At the same time, however, Hermione was willing herself not to; comparing herself to Harry now, she couldn't bear for herself to say anything, not even to him, but that will was dwindling down.

"P...please, Hermione. Talk to me." Harry pleaded again. "You have to tell somebody sometime."

Then Hermione finally let herself turn around to see Harry, and Harry knew for sure that whatever problem Hermione had, it was really bothering her. Although she had stopped crying, her face was nearly completely red, her eyes blurry with tears that ran down her cheeks and dampened both her sleeves. She was breathing heavily with slight whimpering and Harry realized that she seemed about to cry all over again. Harry didn't want Hermione to feel that way and he felt his own heart ache for her.

"I---I wished it would all go away, Harry, I really do..." Hermione blurted out hoarsely, trying to let everything out at once. "The shoes---the...I lost th-them...Semie took them, and washed them, and...and...and I'm stuck! I really can't dance without them, I can't..."

Harry managed to piece together what Hermione was trying to tell him --- Semie washed Hermione's shoes and destroyed the enchantment on them, so Hermione couldn't dance or talk to him again about it --- and decided to act quickly. "Calm down, Hermione! It's just a pair of shoes---"

"_They're not, Harry! Don't you understand!?" Hermione cried out in despair and threw her hands over her face again. "__Everyone's in there waiting to pretty much embarass me and without those shoes, I'm finished, okay!? I'll just be clumsy, and I'll fall and everyone will laugh at me for the rest of my life! You were there with me! You know! The last chance I have to actually have fun with everybody and I blow myself up, Harry! How would that feel if it happened to you?"_

It had rarely occured to Harry that Hermione herself was one to really want others to notice her for who she was --- the Hermione he knew was always readily buried in a book or a dozen of them and always knew everything she had to, the right spell, the right potion, the right ingredients and the right answer to every question. But maybe, Harry also realized, this was how Hermione herself intended to be noticed. Now everything, her embarassment and her earlier problems with needing to know how to dance, made sense; it was opposite of how Harry's life went, but Harry knew well how that would feel, with everyone demanding everything from her. Giving a sigh of understanding, Harry reached out to grip Hermione, but she bristled and backed away at his touch. Harry frowned.

"I'd feel really embarassed, Hermione. I'm sorry." Harry apologized.

Hermione waved Harry off, herself sorry for snapping at Harry like that. Whether he understood or not, Hermione had no right to yell at Harry, and he didn't deserve to be yelled at. "No, Harry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. But...I can't dance, and I can't go back in there. You have your pair..."

Harry looked briefly down at his own pair of dancing shoes which were supposed to save him, but somewhat failed to help Hermione in the dance, and looked back up at her. Hermione covered her face again. "...You can dance well if you wanted to and nobody will laugh at you. But I'll only be in the way, Harry, I'll only embarass you."

Reaching forward, Harry tried to get a grip on Hermione's shoulders again and this time Hermione seemed to have lost all energy to resist like she previously did. At his touch, Hermione calmed down a bit more and lowered her hands to look at him again. "Listen to me, Hermione. Nobody's going to laugh at you. Well," Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe Draco and the Slytherins, but don't they always do that? It'll be alright. And I won't feel embarassed, dancing with you."

Giving a loud sigh of delusion, Hermione backed away a step. "Please don't lie to me, Harry." Hermione pleaded with a whisper. "Who'd want to dance with me? I'm no good at dancing!"

"I'm not, either!"

"And don't you think everyone in the dance knows that? You've seen how they were whispering things when we're being called! They're just waiting for me to mess up in front of them and have something nasty to talk about for Graduation! Bookworm Granger's really a clumsy slug! Can you see that? Why would you care? Nobody would say anything about you, because you're famous! Why would you want to be stuck with me?" Hermione argued, her confidence nowhere near to being helped.

"But..." Harry began, and tried again to give an assuring smile. "Because you're my friend and I would like dancing with you."

Hermione replied with a derisive frown and, unconvinced, turned her back to Harry and looked away. "...Really? Because you'd actually look like you dance good in front of me, probably. You're the one with the dancing shoes. Please leave me alone, Harry. If you want to look good dancing, I'm not the one to ask."

With uncertainty and looking at her with sympathetic eyes, Harry began to think as Hermione went silent again. The dancing shoes were created in an attempt to make himself look good in front of everybody, not because Harry actually wanted to dance, but working with Hermione changed all that, telling Harry that the dance was there to have fun with each other instead of defending reputations. That single night before the dance, Harry had nearly forgotten about his problem and had asked Hermione because he wanted to, but was it really what should matter and was Hermione right? If he had danced with someone else like Mandy or Cho or even Medea, would he really be better off than he would dancing with Hermione?

Harry then found his answer as he remembered Ron's earlier advice and finally realized what he should be at the Last Moments for: _dance for yourselves. He asked Hermione before because he wanted her to be there with him, he liked being with her for the Last Moments, and Harry would be quite happy to dance with her and nobody else. With that realization, as well, Harry also realized that despite what Harry and Hermione had thought earlier, their dancing shoes didn't matter at all._

Silence ensued.

Finally having lost all hope that Harry would bother wasting any more time on her, Hermione finally turned around to realize her loneliness. Although Hermione would never admit it, she wanted Harry to keep talking to her, to keep trying to convince her that everything would work out as he had always done before and to show her that he really did care about her. She knew that she would've liked to dance with Harry, but she can't do that because she'd only embarass herself and Harry in front of everyone, and that thought alone remained in her mind.

But that thought disappeared rapidly when she looked down and saw Harry knelt down in front of her, unbuckling his dancing shoes and taking them off.

"Harry? What are you doing!?" Hermione exclaimed. She was momentarily confused; she had always seen that Harry seemed to need his dancing shoes for the Last Moments, but now he was taking them off for whatever reason. "Why are you taking them off now?"

Harry merely shook his head --- he was finally sure now, more than ever what to feel and say, and by now he had taken off his left shoe and was going for his right. "Because I don't need them at all, Hermione." Harry simply replied. That wasn't what Hermione had thought Harry would say, though, and she was only even more confused.

"But, Harry---"

"Please, Hermione, wait a bit." Harry asked gently and, with a tug, removed his right shoe as well. Tossing both shoes aside and standing with his socks on the outside grass, Harry stood up and looked Hermione in the eye with a sincere, pleading look, one that to Hermione was somehow more reassuring than Harry ever was and told her to hear him out. Shuffling nervously for a bit, Harry finally forced himself to say what he had wanted to. "Hermione...when me and Ron were talking in Hogsmeade a week ago and I found out that everyone would be looking for me to dance...I misread what he meant."

"What?" Hermione asked, more curious than dejected. "What do you mean, misread?"

"Well, um, when I found out about the problem I had---thought I had," Harry blushed a bit but otherwise forced himself on. "I thought I had to dance because they'll be seeing if I can. I thought I needed those dancing shoes because I had to dance good in front of everyone...and when I figured out I had to, um, have my shoes, uh...I thought that was more important than having someone to dance with, that if I could dance good, I would have someone to go with because of it. But Hermione...I was wrong..." 

Hesitantly at first, Harry reached out and, this time, held Hermione's hands. His grip was tight, and although Hermione had tried to slip out of them at first, eventually she found his touch soothing and relaxed her arms into them. Pleasant that she felt, though, Hermione was still confused over what Harry was trying to tell her, her mind and heart in two different places. "A-about what, Harry? What did you find out?"

Harry took a deep breath and went on. "That night in the Library after we finished the dancing shoes together, when we hugged and when I asked you to be my date for the dance, Hermione, briefly I realized that being able to dance was nowhere as important to me as being able to...as being able to, uh...dance with someone you would really to dance with." Harry finished those last words in whispers, letting everything out.

Hermione blinked at him: somehow in her heart she understood what was coming from Harry, but a part of her still refused to understand. "Harry...what are you trying to say?" She tried to turn her head to avoid Harry's eyes, but his look held firm and Hermione didn't dare falter away from them. Harry continued on softly and when he finished, Hermione was looking at him with a bit of surprise, although she finally understood his words and those words had managed to not only calm her down considerably, but also bring a warm feeling into her heart as she realized that she was, no matter what, liked.

"Don't...don't you see, Hermione?" Harry asked, unable to raise his voice any longer and whispering, trying to sound as sure of himself as possible. "I guess that I'm trying to say that...that...that the dancing shoes won't matter to me at all as long as I'll be happy dancing with someone I would really like to dance with. Hermione...with or without the dancing shoes, I would really, really like to dance with you."

"You...you really mean that, Harry?" Hermione whispered, wanting to be sure that she wasn't dreaming Harry telling her all this. If she did, it'd only be proof that she was going crazy. "That you would like dancing with me in the Last Moments? In front of Ron, Mandy, Draco and everybody? Even if I dance bad?"

Harry nodded and smiled widely. "I do mean it, Hermione. This time, I do. I would love dancing with you. I don't dance very well, either, so...if you're going to be embarassed, I'll embarass myself with you, too."

Hermione felt as if the great weight she had felt was on her heart suddenly lifted away with Harry's words; initially having thought that embarassing herself and Harry in front of every single seventh year in Hogwarts by messing up the dance was everything to be worried about, she, too, then realized that it didn't, and shouldn't, matter at all. The fact that did was that she would also like to dance with Harry and that she would have fun doing that. Once again, tears of joy welled up, and this time Hermione felt so happy and glad for Harry that she felt she could kiss him...

But that would be overdoing it, and Hermione contently knew that. Like she had done last night, she threw herself into Harry's arms and hugged him tight. "Oh, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "Thank you very much! I feel much better now! I really am glad you and Ron are always there for me...even Mandy sometimes, and you especially."

They consciously remained there, enjoying the company and the hug, and neither needed to say anything at all.

After what pleasantly seemed like an hour or so but was still much less than that, Harry and Hermione reluctantly backed away and let each other go. This time, neither was blushing with embarassment or confused with the touching feeling --- instead, both Harry and Hermione, knowing that there was nobody around them and wouldn't be for at least quite awhile, wanted very much to hug each other again but knew that there was a dance waiting for them both.

"I guess we should go inside and let everybody know we're ready, Harry." Hermione whispered light-heartedly. "I think we still owe each other a dance."

Harry smiled warmly back at her as he thought about the same thing and the pleasant prospects of finally getting to dance with Hermione. "Yes, we do." Harry replied with a tone that was trying to be gentleman-like, and politely held out his hand towards her again. "Well then, Hermi! May I have the pleasure of having this dance with you?"

Holding back a giggle, Hermione reached out and took Harry's arm around her own. "Of course you may, Harry. It would be my pleasure as well."

*              *                *

Therefore, hand in hand, Harry and Hermione turned around towards the dance hall and, once inside, danced with each other oblivious to everyone else. Harry and Hermione knew that they didn't dance good at all --- although they didn't step on each other's toes all that much at all, they missed a few steps and made a few mistakes. However, only Draco, Medea and the Slytherins laughed at them; the remainder cheered them on, and fawned over the sight of an otherwise perfect dance with an obviously --- to them, at least --- perfect couple.

And, as Harry and Hermione both discovered, they liked dancing with each other and despite the mistakes, enjoyed themselves in the dance --- that, to them, was all that really mattered...and they discovered that it was all because of two pairs of dancing shoes Harry and Hermione didn't really use, and really, when they finally thought about it with each other, didn't need at all.

*              *                *


End file.
